Fashion with a cause

Want to support a cause? three prominent designers — Aki Narula, Lecoanet Hemant and Narendra Kumar Ahmed have designed bags and t-shirts exclusively for a campaign called Bell Bajao by an NGO named Breakthrough at a South mumbai store.

The 360 degree campaign asks men to bring domestic violence to a halt. Men can play a positive role and challenge peers who are abusive, act as positive role models and support women who face violence.

The use of media, pop culture and community mobilisation is the Breakthrough way to advance human rights and create social change. The campaign Bell Bajao was launched in 2008 by campaign ambassador Boman Irani.

Sonali Khan, country head, Breakthrough, says, “Domestic violence is an issue that cuts across all classes, plus there is a need to engage and urge people to come out and address the issue. At the same time there is a huge need to engage younger audiences, thus we thought as an interesting initiative we’d get three serious shoulders for the cause.

And all the three designers have designed the t-shits and bags at no cost.” The t-shirts will be sold at Rs1,000 and the bags forRs 2,000 for a month at the store and then there will be an online auction. Sonali explains that the money raised will go towards helping to educate youth in and around Delhi about AIDS and towards counseling that is related to youth issues.

Fashion designer Aki Narula says, “Breakthrough got in touch with me. They work for human rights and domestic rights but in this particular campaign, the focus was on domestic violence and the idea was to ring a bell around it. I wanted to make something every functionally durable, thus the tote bag — it is an organic cotton off-white bag with six pouch pockets each having a bell printed on it. There is an old-fashioned bell, like a temple bell and on the strap it says ‘Bell Bajao’.”

Store proprietor Tarini Jindal says, “Our store has always been involved with charity and when my mom asked me to do something at the store for a cause, I was more than happy. We are hoping to sell each and every piece.”

The event kicks off on January 13.